An appetizer of puff pastry triangles with creme fraiche and salmon egg caviar. The flavorful brine that bursts in your mouth when you bite into the salmon eggs along with the rich but slightly sour creme fraiche and the layers of puff pastry are an easy but delicious appetizer for a special occasion.

The first course were two medium crab cakes with whole grain mustard and honey sauce with a green salad on the side.

If you wanted, you could also have some fresh ripe tomatoes with thinly sliced red onions and some blue cheese, drizzled with olive oil, red wine vinegar and some chopped Italian parsley.

For the main course we had two T-bone steaks, cooked Peter Luger style and two rib eye steaks as well. A Peter Luger style sauce was served on the side.

Creamed spinach and home fries rounded out the meat course.

Have everything in moderation. That’s how to close out another year. Dessert up next.

GT, I get a lot of tomatoes from Toscana Farms, in Tagaytay. They have a stall on the way up from Silang to Tagaytay, at a gas station. Or you can go to the farm itself, it’s a little out of the way. In Makati, you can try DowntoEarth on Yakal Street, near Santis.

But once you get to a supplier, the biggest sin is that they REFRIGERATE tomatoes. They should never be refrigerated if at all possible. Just bring home fresh tomatoes, leave them out on the kitchen table or counter, until they ripen and use as you see fit. Refrigeration tends to make tomatoes “mealy” and I can’t stress enough why farm fresh tomatoes should never be refrigerated.

If I happen to find decent looking cherry tomatoes at places like S&R or Rustan’s, I take them home, rip off their plastic wrapping and leave them out to ripen. Hopefully, they haven’t been in the chillers for too long and you can get them to reverse the effects of their stay in the chilly temp.

I should say that there are articles that say the rule of NOT REFRIGERATING is bubkus, here, but I stick to the non-refrigeration as I find the tomatoes ripen and taste and have a nicer texture that way.